A short history with Christopher Pyne

Christopher Pyne knows when to hold, when to fold and when to appeal to a person's needs, something the states should remember as they negotiate education funding, writes Peter Fray.

A few years ago, Christopher Pyne was revealed to be a sneaky smoker by the Sunday Age's back page gossip column. A modest item in every sense, it was only of passing interest because Pyne then held a junior ministerial position in the health portfolio of the Howard government.

It wasn't Watergate and is only worth dredging up now, seven years on, because Pyne's actions post-publication attest to his political acumen and capacity to deal with negative publicity. As the premiers and state education ministers are finding out over the Gonski backflip, Pyne is a wily operator. There are, of course, other words for it.

The Pyne smoking item was published on my watch as editor of The Sunday Age and written by the paper's then Canberra political correspondent Jason Koutsoukis.

Pyne is generally liked by the press gallery because, well, he's not boring. He's sharp of mind and tongue, and can be a bit cheeky: qualities that endear him to many journalists. He can also take a joke.

So, both Koutsoukis and I were surprised when Pyne called up the following Tuesday and invited himself to the Sunday Age office for a "little chat".

I expected a polite smacking. But when we did meet a few days later, Pyne came offering a gift.

The Sunday Age had been running hard on the issue of drugs in the AFL, and in particular, the tragic case of West Coast Eagles star Ben Cousins.

A series of stories by Andrew Rule had provoked wide debate about the AFL commission's soft stance on drugs. Rule and I were rightly chuffed about leading the pack, not always the easiest thing for a Sunday paper.

Pyne had clearly been following our success.

Noting the paper's interest in drugs and sport, Pyne mentioned that cabinet would be considering a tough new policy approach to drugs in sport that would be at odds with the AFL.

- Would I like to have a copy?

- Of course.

- Right, said Pyne, I'll get back to you.

And after a bit more chit-chat, he left, without any mention, let alone rebuke, about the smoking story.

A win, I thought: a pleasant enough chat and a potential splash to come.

Days then weeks went by. The promised leak never arrived. There was always a plausible excuse for why it wasn't yet forthcoming. George Brandis, then minister for sport, was often cited as the cause of the delay.

In the end, the AFL drugs issue went a bit stale and the caravan moved on.

To this day, I don't really know if Pyne ever intended to leak the document, or whether the roadblocks to its non-leaking were real or imagined, but I do know he achieved the desired effect.

He'd effectively moved our Pyne-watch from his own questionable habit to the much bigger and sexier target of the AFL and drugs.

It wasn't as if we were suddenly over-nice to Christopher. Or so I'd contend. We wouldn't have held back a negative story about him.

But in the weeks we were waiting for the leak to materialise, it's fair to say we weren't about to nip at a hand that might yet feed - certainly for no good reason.

A few months later the Sunday Age broke the story, again by Koutsoukis, about Pyne telling a private gathering that he was too young to be the minister for the aging.

He did take exception to that one. But we never returned to his smoking.

I assume he managed to quit.

Dealing with Pyne taught me much about myself - I've ever since guarded against my own gullibility - and more about him.

Here is a man with plenty of front and hefty measures of determination, cunning and self-assurance. Someone, in short, who knows how to use political power: when to hold, when to fold and when to appeal to a person's needs.

State premiers and education ministers probably already know this and much more about Pyne. The NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has certainly been around the Liberal traps long enough to be a fair judge of his character.

But as they duke it out over Gonski, the state pollies ought to be mindful that with the member for Sturt, what you see is not all you get. If Pyne offers them a salve for their education sores, they should get the script in writing - in his blood.

Peter Fray is the editor-in-chief of PolitiFact Australia, a fact-checking website, and the former editor of the Sunday Age, the Canberra Times and the Sydney Morning Herald. View his full profile here.

An earlier version of this article appeared in the PolitiFact Weekly newsletter.

Comments (345)

tc21:

04 Dec 2013 8:11:00am

Spot on analysis of Pyne, a man who appears to froth at the mouth over the power and play of politics but hasn't got the slightest interest in the Australian public or the needs of the children, parents and teachers as he holds the reigns of power of education.

Robert:

mik:

the truth:

04 Dec 2013 2:23:36pm

Hmm .. I would say his backflip based on a lie, followed by the backflip of the backflip built on yet another lie, further reinforced by his shameful guarantee lie has, in the matter of a week, shown every Australian the Slime that is Pyne.

This wretched Govt was elected on a Handbook of Lies. The PM and Attorney-General have already rorted their travel allowances for thousands of dollars and swept it under the carpet. Nowhere near as serious as Taxi vouchers you see !

The sight of our cowardly PM squealing to the media about the poor old Senate blocking his pathetic LI-beral legislation is simply nauseating.

Id:

Adelaide Rose:

04 Dec 2013 9:49:21pm

People are complaining because he has not been in the job for more than 5 minutes and has already managed to create uncertainty and distrust in his portfolio. He has caused a lot of damage and achieved nothing.

tonywasaboatchild:

04 Dec 2013 1:17:35pm

ummm he has been shadow minister for the past 6 years and sp he should have developed an education policy,,, hes to often squealing about how he knows this and that and hes talked to so many in education and yet when he opens his mouth its highly evident he knows very little about education. once again we have a minister who ahs no backround in education and yet thinks they know more than those in the day to day business of teaching.

RayS:

04 Dec 2013 11:05:16am

Le Mec, right wing "thinktanks" employ backpackers and such to flood opinion sites with comments that suit their worldview, but because the writers are clueless, the comments are bland, unsubstantiated and strangely extraneous.

spud:

Mug Punter Lefty:

04 Dec 2013 3:09:28pm

The Coalition is playing it very well indeed.

The whole point of the "treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen" no-Gonski theatre was to get maximum coverage of the ALP not having signed up a number of players (as they'd claimed) and THEN to get it across that the ALP had ripped $1.2 Billion from the money-pot without telling anyone.

Now, the ALP and Greens have blocked the ALP funding cuts to Unis in the hope that they can somehow save something from their crushing defeat at the hands of Pyne. Alas, the bookies who called September 7 EXACTLY RIGHT, have wound the ALP out again to around $4 (ie worse than before the 2013 election) for the NEXT election.

When you go the footy it doesn't matter what the rusted-on supporters of the losers blather and boast about. The bookies look at the players and the plays and the results. The ALP are LOSERS in their estimation, and that's all there is to it.

BTW. Anyone doubting the bookies astuteness when it comes to politics can always tell us why they've had it right 44 elections(state and federal) straight, and why they are misreading it THIS ONE TIME ONLY.

Rhonda:

Sydney:

04 Dec 2013 10:37:45am

A bit early, is it not, to call him ?the best?, Robert? Do you say this because you are a coalition luvvie? Must be!He has only been in the job for a few weeks, and since just before the election he and Abbott had to backflip a few times already. It will happen again ?see below-.They finally, after getting an earful from some state luminaries, now seem to have restored the Gonski funding over the next four years ?a start. But what about the Gonski SUBSTANCE? The model proposed that poorer and disadvantaged schools should be treated better for a change, and that they would be funded at least closer to what private schools received from the Federal Government.That point has NOT been promised by Pyne. Rather, he will develop new funding guidelines himself next year, he says.How can we believe that from a man who, as he said himself, found the Gonski model too complex and too hard to understand? Gonski had been worked on by a panel of business people and education experts for years, and it is unlikely that Pyne can come even close to these recommendations. He does not seem to be up to that task (and no other eduction minister federally and in the states would be ? they are lawyers and other such laymen?)!And he cannot get any guidance from his boss, either (a mere Roads Scholar, after all).

jennbrad:

04 Dec 2013 12:21:02pm

I hope this is sarcasm - I expect ministers to have policies, to communicate them clearly and then - as far as they are able (desire and policy intentions do not always come to fruition, even with the best will) to implement them fairly, without shifty game playing, obfuscation and just plain misdirection and lying. I bet Pyne played that game with the unsigned states - implying all sorts of better deals if they agreed with him. But the thing he has abandoned - is the requirement that states match CW funding for schools. Now any state that so chooses can turn its state money to whatever it wants and exist on the CW money, designed as a topup rather than a complete funding package.

Verity:

04 Dec 2013 2:26:03pm

Get real! All he has done is found the lost "money Labor ripped out of the Gonski Plan" which actually was never allocated because WA, Qld and NT would not sign up!

The real reason they would not sign up is because......wonder of wonders....somebody on the new Government offered them something better? Or was it just they didn't sign up so Julia Gillards Gonski plan would fail? Make your own decisions on that one.

Pyne has not done one thing apart from speak with a plum in his mouth when fronting the cameras and try to sound credible. The former is an act and the latter he has yet to attain.

What he knows about education you could put on the head of a pin and yet he truly believes he has done wonders. Christopher Pyne will not do a thing and he will be the worst education minister this country has ever seen.

As ye sew, so shall ye reap and he is reaping all the angst of the voters and it will continue.

burke:

Adelaide Rose:

04 Dec 2013 10:11:49pm

We haven't heard where he's nicked it from yet but you can guarantee that some vital funding would now have been ripped out of play. I'd almost guarantee that the people who will be disadvantaged by that would be those most in need while Liberal party mates will still be getting looked after.

Astroboy :

Blzbob:

04 Dec 2013 4:39:52pm

Doing a great job at trying to keep things as they have been for decades?Sorry, failing dismally after the second back flip.Still, I guess it will only be temporary, you can never expect the libs deliver on any promise for long.

burke:

Pedro 2000:

04 Dec 2013 7:07:07pm

B

Are you saying that when Gillard was asked that question and said No Carbon Tax...etc that she had a secret plan or intention to introduce a co2 tax. Not the ETS she took to the election, but a secret plan for a co2 tax. Is that what you are saying...all this time, over and over again.

For the record, Twiggy and FMG have still paid no tax.

" THE most vocal critic of Labor's mining tax, Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group, has admitted to paying no company tax during its seven years of operation. "

Rhonda:

04 Dec 2013 5:31:09pm

Robert, to date, all we've seen from Christopher Pyne are continuing backflips on education funding. From 'Conski' to Gonski overnight, just before the election ('Labor or Liberal, you will get the same'), to denial of that pledge (it was 'just an illusion' in the minds of the voters), to now claiming the Coalition is providing MORE funding - when in fact they are simply reinstating Labor's offer, which was knocked back by Qld, NT & WA (for political purposes).

One minute Pyne says 'throwing buckets of money into education isn't the way forward', then in the next, he and Tony Abbott are BRAGGING about the $1.2 billion they are now putting back into education. Contradictory!!

On the one hand you claim, just weeks into the job, that CP is doing a great job, 'the best', yet on other issues that exposes their incompetence, the cry goes up 'but they've only just begun'. Can't have it both ways.

libpotati:

04 Dec 2013 8:39:50pm

Tony Abbott was right when he said that the voting public was too stupid to discern between what he said and what he meant. He meant that funding levels would be the same but that they no longer need to be wasted on government schools with poor returns on the investment.

Peter Graham:

04 Dec 2013 9:59:09am

Lillacat, I take it you would rather have Bill Shorten in charge of your kids schooling.Have you seen the latest comparisons of student performance, in particular, with Asian countries?I seems to me no one could have done worse than Gillard and Shorten.

Peter Graham:

Stuffed Olive:

04 Dec 2013 10:45:33am

After nearly 12 years of neglect under Liberal Howard, Labor embarked on improving education all round. It takes more than 6 years to reverse the damage done. If there is any improvement the flow on may well be experienced under the Liberals but having nothing to do with them. In the meantime we are bound to drop again under shambles Pyne.

Wining Pom:

04 Dec 2013 10:47:10am

Peter, we hear a lot about how Rudd and Gillard inherited a wonderful economy from Howard. Did they not also inherit an education system where money had been ploughed into private schools with public ones losing out?

spud:

04 Dec 2013 5:13:25pm

Wining pom

No. Total myth. Now tell us about the tooth fairy.

And even if your claim were correct, then why is it that the improved performance from more money being ploughed into the private schools didn't offset the poorer ones in the public schools? Clearly it didn't, thereby showing that the belief that money solves all is just bunk.

spud:

burke:

Chris L:

04 Dec 2013 11:12:26am

I suspect, Peter, that this is why Labor instigated the Gonski review and included representatives from both sides of politics due to the importance of the issue. This is also why even Coalition states are keen to implement it, because it goes beyond politics and because trials in NSW have already been showing promising results.

Peter Graham:

04 Dec 2013 5:31:49pm

Bull, Chris. Gillard implemented none of the Gonski recommendations, she just tried to throw money at the system in the hope of achieving something.I take it you were unaware of Shorten running from state to state just prior to the election, offering extra billions if they would sign up.The whole thing was a con job and you luvvies are still falling for it.

Positivity:

Chris L:

05 Dec 2013 12:14:44am

She had all but three states signed up. Now suddenly even those holdouts have signed up without much ado. So it looks like the reforms were good after all. In fact it looks like the only reason QLD and WA were reluctant was because they couldn't get past their ideology and work with a Labor government.

Or it could have been a con job, like you said, and Pyne & Abbott promised to fulfil it if elected and all the states (about half being Coalition) are fine with it.

Garn:

04 Dec 2013 11:17:12am

So you have the facts comparing the performances of the two governments at your fingertips right now? You must have a crystal ball or some sort of ESP insight that others don't. The government has been in for only a few months. Pyne looks to me like a wally but only time will tell. At he end of 3 years we should be measuring the outcomes of both governments.

Too many comments on the forums can never be backed up by facts it's all about faith and emotion

Where's Tony:

04 Dec 2013 11:20:41am

I've seen it and noted how far back it goes. I guess you just forgot to mention that.Gonski was a Gillard/shorten inspired investigation into ways by which these stats could be addressed. Each student funded according to their needs, something that the Libs would never have come up with.Now Chris and Tony have completed their triple somersault on this they seek to claim it as their own. I guess it must have been a great policy after all.

seg:

04 Dec 2013 2:29:37pm

Poor student performance in this country seems to be due to the two tiered model (i.e. public and private schools), the countries with one public system for all seem to have the best student outcomes. Now which ideology do you think is the cheer squad for private schooling?

Aneke:

04 Dec 2013 2:31:18pm

Peter, you probably need to remind yourself that primary and secondary education is primarily a matter for the States and Territories. Gillard and Shorten were trying, and succeeding in getting a National policy developed for all states and territories to be funded and playing by the same rules. That is why Gonski is such a landmark in education and why so many of us were outraged when Pyne and Abbott blithely abandoned their pre-election promises, then lied about this, then blamed the media and the voters for misunderstanding them, then finally came back where they started.

luke warm:

04 Dec 2013 2:35:03pm

I have seen those scores, and they show that educational achievement has been in decline since 2000. For the first 7 years of that period the LNP was in power nationally, and busily redistributing funds to rich private schools.

LeftyRoy:

Novice:

TrevorN:

04 Dec 2013 3:39:39pm

This is just a cheap shot: you know very well that Gillard in particular put a lot of political capital and a vast effort into educational reform and in particular moving from the failed Howard model to Gonski.

It was the coalition who put every concievaable effort in their way and tried to prevent the move of money away from rich private schools to disadvantaged students. Their antics in both houses and in the press attest to this.

Pyne and Abbott haven't got a clue. They are true to their blue blood private schools and do not believe in the public system. Pyne has not yet done anything but confuse the whole isue.

ozinhkong:

04 Dec 2013 3:47:53pm

As with any comparison we need to also factor in other factors which play a major part in the test results. with respect to hong kong and china there needs to be an adjustment factored in to how many of these students actually attend after school tutor classes. If the school system is so good then we need to ask why in hong kong and shanghi there is a massive amount of time and money spent by parents in having their children attend tutor classes. It may tend to suggest that the schools are failing to teach correctly and the tutors make up for the shortcomings. whilst its true that Asian parents tend to push their child ( sometimes children) more so than their European counterparts in the area of education they are also less inclined to push their chlidren into areas of sports and recreation. there is a higher value to education in asia to give one better access to higher education and then to a good job. in asia it all about saving face and children are born to respect their parents and do everything possible to make their parents happy and appear successful to other parents. there's very little time for a normal childhood filled with investigation exploration and imagination and yet if these were tested in hong kong and shanghi the failure rates would be quite high.hong kong and shanghi are a mono culture and both a non welfare state where if you fall by the wayside 2 out comes prevail , 1 being you brought shame to your family and 2 theres no one to help you redress the problems.In respect to Australia which is a multi culture there is equally a multi faceted expectation both towards education and the teachers themselves by the families. some families will value education very highly and likewise give respect and value to the teachers of their children . on the other hand we also have parents who have a lower expectation of education and less respect for the teachers who have to work with their children.factor the above into the results and we can get a different more realistic outcome. both Shanghi and Hong Kong put value into the children attaining well in a rote system of memorisation based schooling which can lead to the attainment of a good job to help them rise up out of the lower classes. the last point to also be aware of is the high suicide a d high rates of contemplating suicide amongst school aged children in hong kong and shanghi. the fact that children are effectively placed under stress for the whole of their school life to do well at school is a great shame. in 2006 the then secretary for education commented on a recent suicide of a primary 6 girl stating that the child was a coward and and brought great shame to her parents and school in her actions. the secretary showed a brutal side to what is expected of children . lastly , no one system is perfect and comparisons are only as useful in so much as they can be skewed to suit a politicians purposes.last point 15 year olds begun their education unde

ozinhkong:

04 Dec 2013 6:58:44pm

last point the 15 year old began their education under a conservative government , the most important years of education begin in the primary area. If we want to blame a government then lets start with 15 years ago its howard......or we can throw away simple blame and start tackling the issue of re engaging both parents and children in education and stop heckling the poor buggers who have to do the teaching. its akin to blaming the police force for the high incidence of binge drinking or rapes in our society, its hardly the polices fault as their inherit the dysfunctional aspects that lead to these problems.

burke:

Pedro 2000:

04 Dec 2013 7:24:31pm

Bb, Well pointed out.

plus

General comment, can people stop conflating State controlled education and student outcomes with the Federal Govt. They do not do K12 education. State Govts do. Gonski, National curriculum etc are attempts to pull some Keating-esk levers. To help, to raise up disadvantaged children. They did not ask for the life they have. Give those "poor" buggers a chance.

Federal funding needs to go where it is most needed, targeted. Not the Private School sector. They do very well out of the Aust taxpayers. They have everything and so much of it already.

The Captain:

04 Dec 2013 5:33:51pm

Interesting learning figures among our neighbours - maybe it's all the after-school education these kids get paid for by desperate parents......unlike us in the Lucky Country. We can afford to have an under-class of uneducated kids to do the bidding of others. Cheaper than live-in servants.

Morestone:

04 Dec 2013 5:40:45pm

Wining Pom

Sure did, and part of the social engineering of the era was besmirching the reputation of state schools. The upshot is Australia now has one of the highest levels of "non-govt" (largely religious) schooling in the world.

spud:

Ben the lawyer:

04 Dec 2013 8:45:54am

'Spot on analysis of Pyne'

Let me get this straight - there is a low rent piece about Pyne in The Age (there's a shock). Rather than calling the editor screaming at him to remove it (ala our illustrious former PM), or commencing an inquiry into the media (I seem to have a memory of that as well) Pyne merely has a chat and says he'll forward a document that is (I imagine) confidential.

The journalist then goes easy on him in the hope of getting a scoop. Pyne, rather than breach cabinet confidence, does not provide the document, but uses the hope of the document so that the story goes away.

The end result is that Pyne efficiently manages a bottom of the barrel cheap shot, whilst keeping his integrity intact (I can't say the same about the journalist).

Don't get me wrong lefties, I'm sure that there is plenty wrong with Pyne - I just don't think this story demonstrates it. Not that I think that will stop the luvvies here, of course.

Kedjy:

Where's Tony:

04 Dec 2013 11:29:29am

Personally I couldn't care less if Chris smokes or bursts into flames, his choice.To suggest that he was being hypocritical because he did so when holding a junior position in the health ministry of the day is just a column filler and should be seen as such.However I've always judged him to be a harping nuisance in opposition and far less than honest in government. Sneaky, rude and snide are his main characteristics, a guy I'd never want as a friend.

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 11:49:13am

You are kidding aren't you Kedjy? The entire media spent the last 6 years airing every piece of dirt (real or imagined) that could be flung against the ALP. The only possible reason that we might not have heard about an ALP health minister smoking would be because they were too busy accusing them of concocted claims of fraud.

Compare and contrast that with the soft treatment that the LNP customarily receives by the media. Even the agencies that are politically opposed to them (ABC and Fairfax) tend to play things a whole lot more professionally than the sensationalist rantings that the LNP luvvy media publishes against the ALP.

For example, we heard over and over again about the behaviour of Craig Thomson. It seems like his behaviour was quite appalling. But we didn't hear anywhere near as much about the behaviour of the former member for Indi, even though Mirabella's behaviour seems to have been considerably more appalling.

Kedjy:

05 Dec 2013 8:24:49am

The entire media you say ? Really ? You are including the ABC and Fairfax then ?Balderdash, poppycock and brouhaha, you cannot simply keep trying to rewrite history and the facts. I guess you still think ALL the media has it in for the ALP, well keep running that line as it shows the astounding deceit of the ALP and it's supporters here.

jennbrad:

Rhonda:

04 Dec 2013 7:29:24pm

Kedjy, I guess you never watched the ABC's 7.30 Report from 2010 until the election? Night after night Chris Uhlmann using every opportunity to bag Labor, while the then-Opposition avoided scrutiny. The disrespect that he, Leigh Sales and Tony Jones regularly showed towards Julia Gillard, was glaringly obvious.

I think the point of this article is less about Christopher Pyne's smoking habits, and more about his character (or lack of), in that he had an unhealthy habit while he was Health Minister, but was pretending he didn't. Sneaky, gutless, hypocritical, ruthless, are all great words to describe Christopher Pyne, in whatever portfolio he holds, smoker or non-smoker.

harry:

04 Dec 2013 2:05:16pm

I can't wait for the same "journalist" to publish his next expose, perhaps a gay minister having unprotected sex. Surely that too is a breach of health standards ... somehow I doubt we'll get that one from Fairfax, last i looked, smoking wasn't illegal, neither was overeating, or not exercising. All this demonstrates is that the "journalist" in question got seriously out-manouvered by Pyne.

spud:

04 Dec 2013 5:18:41pm

Yes low rent. Alcohol causes a lot more health damage than tobacco these days, but I bet you can't name a single Health Minister who hasn't had a quiet drink now and again, and equally I bet you can't point to a single puff piece about the quiet drink any of them has had somewhere either.

TrevorN:

Well, if Pyne is as good and as smart a Liberal political operative as you are suggesting then this country is in great peril because the government must be in the hands of the truly inept.

I don't think you should credit low cunning, lying and back flipping as intelligence.

Pyne is a disgrace and it was obviously an Abbott mistake to offer him a Ministry. At least Howard had the good sense to realise that he does not have what it takes to be given a ministerial portfolio. Now it's up to Abbott to admit his mistake and to remove Pyne before he dooes more political damage to the coalition and to our educational standards.

Peter Graham:

04 Dec 2013 10:10:05am

I take it Trevor that you formed these views when you met him. Or could it be that you never have.

I think the most recent evidence, about student performance, points to the fact that Gillard and Shorten have done far more damage to education standards, than Pyne could ever do.Haven't you been reading the news this week? That's if you are able to digest facts and figures and make conclusions. Probably impossible if you are a product of state school, socialist teaching methods.

Johnny:

04 Dec 2013 11:14:38am

Peter the students just tested would have spent their most formative years in school under a Howard government. have you noted that "The latest results show Australian students in the lowest socio-economic quartile are performing on average at a rate equivalent to 2? years behind the highest socio-economic quartile, while the same gap also occurred between the results of indigenous and non-indigenous students."

That lack of performance by indigenous students is partly due to Howard giving all the money to private schools rather than trying to fix the imbalance.

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 11:52:34am

"That's if you are able to digest facts and figures and make conclusions."

You see, the point is Peter, that we have been doing exactly that and we have concluded that Pyne is lying about the state of the education budget, and about the pressing need to continue funding private schools to the detriment of the public schools.

But of course our public school education was more about objectively analysing information rather than bowing over and taking our licks from the 'head boy' for disagreeing with him.

Dove:

04 Dec 2013 11:53:35am

"I take it Trevor that you formed these views when you met him. Or could it be that you never have"- with an opening stanza like that I'd have guessed that you were about to follow it up with a nice piece about how you've met Pyne and how he's such a great guy. It's a poor position to criticise someone else's alleged lack of first hand knowledge and then demonstrate none yourself.

I wouldn't get too exited about who's in government. The last mob weren't in long enough to track anyone throughout their schooling. This is a topic that spans governments. If you take your eye patch off, you'll notice that the education system isn't as half bad as you think it is. Asian classrooms are about regurgitation and repetition. This lends themselves better to some subjects. Our system places an emphasis on analysis and interpretation, which is why we do better almost everything else. We barely hiccup when we find out that Australia isn't as high up the magic scales in health care, aged care, social inclusion, crime....but when it suites us we choke when education isn't as high as we'd like.

Criticising teaching methods would sound more convincing by actually naming some of them, explaining why they don't work and proposing your own. Calling things socialist, in 2013 Australia simply reveals the limitations of the speaker.

Peter Graham:

04 Dec 2013 5:38:36pm

is that so Dove? In that case, is it the system or the teachers who are responsible for the woeful performance in maths, English and science.I take it from your response that you are one of those responsible for letting our children down. If you are you should have the good grace to resign your position.

Dove:

04 Dec 2013 9:01:45pm

Thinking all articulate responses must be from teachers is a sad indictment on someone's education! I'm still waiting on your critique of "socialist teaching methods", but guess given how comprehension 101 when I won't hold my breath.

Easter Bunny:

04 Dec 2013 12:20:06pm

Peter Graham cannot see the wood from the trees. Graham wants you to believe that any drop in student performance on an international scale is the fault of the previous Federal government. What he does not want you to consider are the obvious flaws in such an argument, such as the time it takes for educational initiatives introduced at a Federal level (or lack therof) to have impact on the ground; nor does he want you to consider any fault (his term) attributable to state governments or school sectors. Perhaps it was the Howard era characterised by savage cuts to education budgets that led to this apparent drop in standards. Like Pyne, Graham prefers to gloss over inconvenient facts for the sake of cheap political gain.

Rhonda:

04 Dec 2013 8:22:54pm

I recall a Lateline program where Emma Alberici was discussing Labor's Early Childhood Education initiative with Peter Garrett (then Education Minister), in which it was stressed that the most crucial years in a child's education are the very early years - a fact also widely acknowledged overseas.

So in that light, considering Labor was only in for six years (and basic logic would allow for time to implement changes to a system inherited from a previous government), it would seem that the current failings were created BEFORE the Labor years. Now, who was in government for over 11 years prior? Ah, that's right - the Coalition.

Christopher Pyne either has a comprehension problem, or suffers Truth Deprivation Syndrome (if not both) - which makes him unfit to hold the portfolio of Education Minister...

Repent-ant:

04 Dec 2013 12:26:21pm

peterYour comment beggar's belief, may I asked whether you have had the pleasure of meeting Gillard or Shorten, it seem's your yardstick only applies to other' public" educated people and not yourself.Your quote(probably impossible if you are a product of state school) is scary enough to warn reasonable parent's, no guarantee from a private ed.

Rhonda:

Stuffed Olive:

04 Dec 2013 1:10:12pm

I've seen enough of Pyne on parliament broadcasts for as long as he has been an MP and especially his daily performances over the last 6 years and his appearance on Kitchen Cabinet. The man is not fit to be an Education Minister's bootlace. Labor's education efforts over the last 6 years have yet to reach fruition if you care to think about the number of years a student spends in primary and secondary education. The legacy we are seeing now comes direct from Howard's 12 years of neglect. If you had a half decent education yourself you would know that there is no socialism in Australian.

m shark( not a lawyer) :

04 Dec 2013 11:52:29pm

Yes Olive, absolutely right , the year 8 and 9 students I currently teach are Howard era products , born and mostly educated on his watch . They are getting worse in their overall cognitive ability, their desire to learn and they have moistly lost the ability to question and to apply knowledge, we have to spoon feed them to get them anywhere near where they were a decade ago.

We have been warned by the feeder primary schools that there's worse to come down the track. Now whether extra funding might help or whether they are a product of Howard's middle class battlers"s who are buying them off with ipods rather then helping them become well rounded citizens or not I cannot say. Society has changed markedly. But if I had some extra helpers in the classroom when I have about 8 students with learning difficulties to deal with in a mainstream class ( which is what the new funding model is designed to do ) we might get some better outcomes. In the primary sector in a high unemployment area a friend had a year 6/7 class of 33 , out of those 11 had recognised handicaps like ADHD , Asperger's, Autism and another half dozen definitely had undiagnosed problems. Given that we can't use fear of corporal punishment as the way to keep order enough to get the students to concentrate as they did in the 'good old days" we need bodies to help in the classroom , otherwise students in the low socioeconomic areas will continue to under perform whilst those in the private sector get more help than they need .

Now just wait, a tory will come in blame the teachers, the socialist curriculum and the Union dominated ,leftist luvvie ,pinko latte sipping .short working week ,long holidays, reds under the beds lazy teachers, etc. etc...... you fill in the insult of your choice , I've heard them all and mostly from people like Pyne.

matt from SA:

04 Dec 2013 1:37:36pm

Easy there cowboy, we didn't all win the lucky sperm comp and have mummy and daddy send us off to a proper school where we could learn to sneer at those we consider less worthy of being granted any sort of opportunity in life. Is this arrogance part of the "Christian values" you righties like banging on about?The hidden agenda of the christo- fascists who are now running the country is to re-introduce these so called values by stealth. That is why they have been so evasive about this from the start. When george pell is writing your education policy with the intention of privatising the whole state school system under the control of the catholic church then you best believe that christopher whine needs to be muddying the waters.As to the immediate answer to your ideological rant about declining standards, you just refuted your own argument. Declining standards are exactly why the Gonski reforms are needed. Maybe if you had received a proper education your analytical skills wouldn't be so poor. If I were your parents I'd want my money back.

seg:

04 Dec 2013 2:34:24pm

Do you think perhaps, that maybe, just maybe it could take years before a governments policies affecting education come to the fore? Perhaps what you are seeing now, in terms of poor educational outcomes can be laid at the feet of the Howard government?

luke warm:

"I think the most recent evidence, about student performance, points to the fact that Gillard and Shorten have done far more damage to education standards, than Pyne could ever do."

You mean th figures that show student performance has been in decline since 2000? Tell me who was in power for the first seven years of that period? And how long do you think it takes to turn around student performance?

Mug Punter Lefty:

04 Dec 2013 3:20:13pm

PG (10.10AM) First we had Rudd's Digital Revolution whereby every kid got a laptop. Then Gillard's School Hall Revolution, and then Gonski to maybe, hopefully, possibly remedy the first two abject failures. And then Gonski withdrew his support as the ALP stuffed his maybe, hopefully, possibly solution up.

Of course the Luvvies were also pinning their hopes on the back-of-an-envelope NBN revolution to somehow carry the day....except that it's decades behind schedule in construction and coverage and sign-ups. But since we all know that the NBN is a dud too, they are calling it Fraudband.

OK. So Pyne came out; played the entire Leftosphere for suckers, and the Bookies have made the LNP even more unbackable favourites for next time than they were in September. The Luvvies do not wish to read any more about their hero's failures, so the answer is :NO, they have no knowledge of the downward spiral in ediucation results under Rudd, Gillard and Shorten revealed this week.

Pedro 2000:

04 Dec 2013 6:46:23pm

MPL

Let me count the ways... 400 000 plus laptops to school kids is not a failure is it? The LNP?s zero is a failure. Mr Pyne?s 6 years as Shadow Education Minister was a Failure.Scholl Bldg program?10 000 schools and 23 000 projects completed 2.3% had problems, not all to do with cost. Excellent result. Ditto with the expansion of the Howard Govts Home Insulation Program. 99%, no problems. 1.1 million Homes now saving 40% on their energy bills.

NBN. I have the new NBN. It is amazing. It was always going to take 10 years to fully complete, this is well known?so it not that far behind. Your comment is ...revealing. For months I watched them (sub contractors) have problems, but here we are, no more buffering! And no stupid "Turnbull Nodes" all the way down my street!

Education is a State by State responsibility. It has and always has had little to do with the Federal Govt. Gonski is a well-considered attempt to help correct disadvantage for those with few advantages in life. Education is Freedom. It is an investment for the future. It is an investment in themselves as well as society. Your comments are very revealing.

m shark( not a lawyer) :

05 Dec 2013 12:13:56am

I'd rather be a luvvie any day than a died in the wool Liberal who knows so little about education that he doesn't comprehend that it takes years for changes to filter through to results. For your info the computer program was a great success. I had 8 computers between 24 kids, I now have one per student and far better practical outcomes than when we had 4 kids around one machine - Howard's legacy yet again. Perhaps you should tell the lutheran school down the road that their new buildings are duds, but they seem pretty happy with them, as do the state primaries who had nowhere to hold school plays, do sport in bad weather, or the local communities that now can use them on weekends. Of course the NBN is decades behind - except its not , as its only been going for a few years and most of the delays are due to the privatisation of Telstra, because if we still owned it, we would not have had to spend billions and a couple of years negotiating with them to buy up their crappy copper networks. Oh and that nice Ziggy who is now in charge was the one who stuffed up Telstra as well ( Bigpond was the worst Internet service I ever had, they lost a billion in failed Pacific Century CyberWorks ) so its natural to give him the job so he can do it again to the NBN. .

The Pav:

04 Dec 2013 4:17:28pm

Whaty makes you think that Pyne who as showdow minister in six years asked no ( ZERO) questions about his portfolio ( but did manage to show his dispruptive beahviour by being suspended 26 times and showed his maturity by poking his tongue out at the speaker).

In this time he released no discussion papers or formulated any policy.

He said Gonski was complex and confusing ( hardly surprisng since it is a complex subject) but when offered an exlanation by a panel memeber declined.

Dispite admitting he didn't understand it he wanted to dump it...How could he know what he was dumping? then despite no understanding it he has sort of reinstated it.

The truth is as an ardent catholic he had no interest in Gonski but simply wanted to return to the clearly discredited SES model which would have enabled him to favour the catholic sector.

Religous dogma in place of principal and sound policy. It is the catholic link that is the cause for Abbotts support despite his incompetence

teach:

04 Dec 2013 6:20:07pm

spot on and furthermore I would question most of poor immature behaviours both in and out of parliament as evidence of the dumbing down in general of standards of behaviour which many young children then replicate in their classrooms. someone who acts as an adult rather than a fool should be given the important portfolio rather than a class a dult.

Graz:

04 Dec 2013 4:36:04pm

PG it is quite ridiculous to claim that either federal government (labor or coalition) has much effect during their terms on education results. The States and Territories have that responsibility, albeit with financial support from the feds.However, I might suggest that the underfunding of state schools during the last decade might have some effect on a whole range of things such as teacher PD, teacher resources and importantly teacher morale. That is what the Gonski funding will try to remedy.We also have quite broad curriculums in Australia and would not spend the same amount of time on the subjects tested in the PISA study.

Pedro 2000:

04 Dec 2013 6:15:38pm

PG

"socialist teaching methods." You mean ideas of common good and social contract, Education is freedom, getting along with and thinking about others, Empathy, Curiosity, Learning how to learn, Biology is not destiny, opening your mind and your imagination, read a book, where does your food come from...etc. Those socialist methods.

As I remember it, it was Conservative State governments that sat children in institutional rows and hit them with a wooden rule.

the yank:

Repent-ant:

04 Dec 2013 11:50:49am

Your defence of Pyne seem's extreme.Shadow Minister Pyne very rarely in Parliament asked a question of relevance on Education,sloganeering a master(stop the boats,etc).Then came Gonski(panel of educational expert's)Ha he thought,my very own portfolio slogan, Conski he rallied shaking his epee(cannot imagine Pyne with a broadsword),told to sit down and shut up by LNP strategist's before election,instantly obliged.Also take in to account,all politican's DNA,curring favour with" anybody" who will help climb the greasy pole of power.My report-card on Pyne,urgently need's to understand his subject,less waffle more work.

mr shark(not a lawyer):

04 Dec 2013 2:36:19pm

"The end result is that Pyne efficiently manages a bottom of the barrel cheap shot, whilst keeping his integrity intact"Only a Lawyer ,a journo ,or a politician could imagine that Pyne acted with integrity. Also, why is it low rent to point out the irony in the health minster having a sly fag? If he pointed out that he did smoke, he was addicted and he did not advise any others to follow his habit then that would have been ok, but he hid the fact, which makes it in the public interest. Another irony is that Pyne has vigorously preached an anti drug message over the years , but obviously this only applies to others choice of drugs, not HIS preferred poisons - booze and cigarettes, the most damaging drugs because so many of us use them compared to the illegal products. He is obviously no libertarian.

Pyne has made a total cockup of his portfolio so far, and this article is evidence of his lack of integrity and chameleon like ability to float to the top of the dung pot no matter what . In the past six months he has held three different positions on Gonski, this ability to execute 360 degree turns and act as though he has been perfectly consistent all along makes him a perfect person to serve under Abbott, who has held more than a few totally contradictory views over his period in public life as well.

MikePS:

04 Dec 2013 3:04:25pm

What is it with retired conservatives and the word "luvvies"? I thought vaudeville-era humour went out in the 40s. I'm guessing that retirement homes these days must have internet and carers help the "dearies" with the keyboard.

Alicej:

04 Dec 2013 10:02:20am

original

Christopher is just one of the 'bovver boys' within the present parliament who when challenged threatens, ... "rather than breach cabinet confidence ", will hide behind this charade not to display his innate ignorance of subject depth. Beware !

Malcolm:

04 Dec 2013 11:42:02am

Wily perhaps, but what impresses me is his political agility founded entirely on a complete lack of principles.

Last weekend he was frothing away about how Tony and he had never promised to implement Gonski and that their alternative was the way to go - whatever that was to be after they had made it up. Then his mate and leader in classroom tricks, Tony, woke up to the fact that his own attempt to rewrite history had just earned him an epic F in the classroom of politics popularity. This necessitated his teacher making him redo his homework with the strict instruction to do proper research and not just make it up.

Immediately this happened his little mate Chris Pyne, who sits at the back of the classroom with him, suddenly leapt to his feet, waved his hand at the teacher and started yelling "Please Miss!!!!! Me and Tony really support Gonski - we do, we do, we so do!!!! we was just having a joke Miss"

Pedro 2000:

04 Dec 2013 4:06:55pm

Mr Pyne this morning blamed the previous Labor Govt after a report showing education standards in Aust are lower than they were or should be relative to other OECD (?) countries. This was a bald face untruth. The MS media however will not call him on this. I dare him to repeat that in Parliament.Education and its Quality are a State Govt responsibility. It had nothing to do with Federal Labor.

This, coming from a man that for 6 years as Opposition Education Minister never offered anything himself in the way of other alternatives, models etc, nothing.

The reason for the lower than desired results was due to disadvantaged students bringing down our rating with lower student outcomes. Something Gonski was put in place to help correct. Labor and the Gonski team spent years trying to do something at a Federal level to improve student outcomes. Especially for those that are disadvantaged. Not everyone in Aust is born with the same advantages in life.

Education changes take years to manifest positively or otherwise. It used to be called in some parts of Aust (QLD) Public Instruction.

Phillip Canham:

04 Dec 2013 8:13:06am

I do not trust the man at all. He has repeatedly made comments then denied them, and he is still in the habit of referring to Bill Shorten almost every time he speaks. He is in a position to make a difference, yet he still feels the need to belittle opponents, rather than just focusing on doing his job well. I get the feeling he would have been the kind of kid who sat at the front of the class and dobbed on his classmates, especially if they received praise for something. I can picture him in class, listening to a fellow student delivering a speech. When the teachers congratulates the student, a young Mr Pyne probably interjects to remind the teacher to subtract marks because the student looked at his speech cues too often.

With Christopher Pyne as Education Minister, we are in trouble. Unfortunately our nation won't see the full consequences until he is retired and living comfortably as a taxpayer funded retiree.

Ben the lawyer:

04 Dec 2013 8:51:23am

'With Christopher Pyne as Education Minister, we are in trouble'

Oh lefties, when will you learn? You are so keen to pronounce that the other side is a failure that you set the bar incredibly low so that it is not easy for the conservatives to beat it. This is merely another example - I have no idea whether we are in 'trouble' because Pyne is Education Minister. I just wouldn't presume at this early stage to say either way.

Same thing happened with the Howard government - lefties would decry Howard as a racist puppy killer, and when (inevitably) it turned out he wasn't, voters would of course think "well, he's not so bad" and vote him back in. Again. And again. And again. I pesonally think one of the reasons conservatives have been in power for so much longer than Labor since WW2 is because the left creates such low expectations that it is easy for the conservatives to beat them.

TrevorN:

04 Dec 2013 9:46:46am

Yet in WW@ the voters chucked the inept "Pig Iron Bob" Menzies out and let some brilliant ALP Prime Ministers win the war for us. Then PIB got in and did nothing for a decade or more except crawl to the British and the Queen.

So, Menzies was a dead loss as were all the rest of the Liberal PM's with the possible exception of Gorton who the Libs stabbed in the back anyway.

On the other hand we had a forward thinker in Gough, who was shaftd by a treacherous Cheif Justice, a drunken GG, and crazy Joh from Qld.

Hawke and Keating were brilliant and set the political and financial agenda that Howard botched up.

Rudd and Gillard had some personal failings but achieved a lot politically nonetheless.

Now, true to form we have another disaster in Abbott and his disfunctional secretive bunch. We need a DD now so that any damage they have done can be put right by the next incoming Labor PM.

Glamorpig:

SimonP38:

04 Dec 2013 1:16:02pm

Is this the same Whitlam who tried to fund the Aust budget by a loan from a middle eastern gun dealer, nearly collapsed the Aust economy, appointed his own A-G, Mr Murphy, to the High Court. Mr Murphy, who died before being charged with perverting the course of justice.

Mr Whitlam apointed the "drunken GG" because me thought he could bully and control the GG.

The inconvenient truth for the ALP is that in the end the people of Aust voted, and they voted the Frazer govt in with a landslide majority. (clearly the people of Aust must have got it wrong)

I supose you ae right on on one point. the Rudd-Guillard Govt was the best labour govt we have ever had.

Whitlam left Aust with $1Bn in debt.Hawke Keating left Aust with $100Bn in debt Rudd Guillard had left Aust with $380Bn in debt. They have been much more successful in spendng money we don't have.

Tator:

04 Dec 2013 4:31:47pm

It wasn't the voters who tossed Menzies out the first time, it was a couple of independants who did withdrew their support in parliament for Menzies whilst he was in England and he resigned from the leadership of the United Australia party. The party then chose Arthur Fadden as leader and PM who appointed Menzies as Minister for Defence and he was defeated when the two independants withdrew total support for the UAP and supported Curtin in 1941 who formed minority govt until the election in 1943 which the ALP won and Menzies subsequently formed the Liberal Party to replace the dying UAP. Menzies won the 1949 election on the back of Chifleys desire to nationalise all the banks which drove the middle class to the new Liberal Party.

JCH:

04 Dec 2013 9:59:13am

Dear Ben,

One must not forget the influence of the DLP in keeping Labor out of office for 25 years after the second world war, in fact until 1972. Since then it has been very much of a swap around as the public tires of the incumbent. To put it all down to Coalition superiority is just to much of a stretch and ignores the complexity of life in the public arena.

Mug Punter Lefty:

04 Dec 2013 3:30:11pm

TrevorN (8.51am). In 1940 Menzies became PM with the support of two independents (a minority govt like Gillard's). It was the two independents that then gave Menzies the boot by joining with the ALp instead.

In 1943, the major opposition party was the Country (now National Party), so the voters again did not reject Menzies, but Arthur Fadden who was the leader of the Country Party/UAP coalition.

Blzbob the philosopher:

Optimist:

04 Dec 2013 11:46:36am

Ben,

It's not a matter of left or right. Surely we are all sick of Politicians of whatever persuasion trying to tell us that black is white. If they change their minds on something, fine, own up to it and honestly explain why. It's the weasel words and deceit from the whole sorry lot that leave us despairing. Mr Pyne is a prime example of the poor quality of Politicians that we are currently lumbered with.

Jason:

04 Dec 2013 11:51:33am

Ben, point to some positives about Pyne and his education policies. Go on, just one. The right wing nut jobs rave on about the loony left luvvies, but at least Labor government have policies that plan for the future. Howard was lazy and got extremely lucky with Mining Boom MK I. In the end all he left Australia with was aging infrastructure and a whopping great structural deficit. Pull apart Howard's years and you will realise you got very little for your money. This current mob of Libs run on ideology but they can't even formulate policy to match their rhetoric. Pyne sums this lot up perfectly. Smart political operator but severely lacking substance.

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 12:00:06pm

The real reason the conservatives have been in more than the 'progressives' is because people don't like change and it takes people a while to realise when the country is actually broken and needs fixing.

And so that is why if you ask anyone about the formative government policies that have created the society that we live in, most of them would be ALP policies (Medicare, free uni then HECS, floating of the dollar, compulsory superannuation etc etc etc). Name us some LNP policies that had similar sorts of formative effects on society.

The LNP just whip up the discontent that inevitably arises from social change (before the public realises the benefits of the change) and uses that to get back into office. And then at best they sit on their hands, and at worse they impose the sorts of social and economic policy that moves us back towards a sort of Dickensian social structure (GST, Workchoices, economic policies driving the replacement of public debt with private debt etc etc). The point is though that they usually do this gradually and it takes people a while to realise the effects it will have on them.

don't believe the media:

04 Dec 2013 12:25:27pm

Ben, i only saw evidence that he was indeed a racist and that he recognised it was a common trait for so many Australians, thus an election winning topic. Good ole boy Alan Jones helped stir them into a frenzy at Cronulla too.

ozinhkong:

04 Dec 2013 3:50:27pm

can you just remind us what era of education you studied under ? and include the university time as well. it maybe that you went to school in a conservative period and then reaped the free uni education of the evil nasty labor party.

Repent-ant:

04 Dec 2013 8:52:44pm

ozinkongAbbott would have been a recipitent of this Socialist, free uni policy.Now he is talking about H.E.Cs debts to loan shark's.Perhap's he has a case, plausible deniability for his yes/no daily shift policy.Bad memory.May even set a precedent in jurisprudence,Brandis leading the charge, as is Brandis want,aka Bolt.

Giles:

04 Dec 2013 3:56:13pm

The lefties are so convinced of the superiority of their cause as well as their God-given right to accuse the LNP of all sorts of crimes bar child murder that none of them have the faintest idea of what you are telling them.

It goes right over their collective heads.

Some of them have already described this as the worst government ever. After three months!

All Abbott has to do is to competently handle a few issues such as the Indonesian spy scandal, put the blow torch onto Labor over a few matters such as debt and refugees, and it will become apparent to the voters that the Liberals aren't so bad after all.

It is increasingly becoming obvious that in contrast to the disgraceful and hysterical attempts to gain political capital by his opponents over the Indonesian spy scandal that Abbott did, in fact, handle it well after all. The Indonesians were so upset that they would have taken issue with anything Abbott said unless it was a full blown, grovelling apology which would never have been forthcoming anyway. Look at their response to Abbott's perfectly reasonable use of the word embarrassed, for example.

Chris L:

wandererfromoz:

04 Dec 2013 8:16:53am

Have you read the continuing articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and what they think of the 'whinging very very shrill Wendy' of the Liberal Party? Well it is at least commendable you out of the generosity of your heart try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Highly charitable.

wandererfromoz:

04 Dec 2013 5:41:05pm

Peter read this article and more like it http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/christopher-pyne-the-joker-in-pack-could-bring-down-tony-abbott-20131203-2yof5.html and then carefully rewrite your article with some semblance of facts thanks

dinohtar:

Poisonous Mushroom:

04 Dec 2013 8:20:26am

Thanks for the insight on Pyne, Peter.

Personally I have no respect for Pyne and do not trust him an inch. He comes across to me as a whiner par excellent without community useful skills in any area. Pyne reached his use by date when made Minister for the Aged with the total contempt he showed for the aged, and Abbott is showing that same contempt for the aged and every-one else by having Pyne in his Cabinet.

It is time Pyne, Abbott and virtually all the old Howard wannabe cabinet ministers handed in their Field Marshal batons and departed so Australia will have some hope of getting honest and open representation for their billions in taxes.

EVAN:

bobb:

04 Dec 2013 2:24:03pm

I do not know Mr Pyne and my assessment of him is based on watching his performance on Qand I. In this programme he consistently speaks over people who are trying to make a point, does not listen to others, will always try to have the last say and scores political points whenever possible. He is always right and displays arrogance when debating with others on the panel. I assume that these qualities are required to be a Coalition Minister.

Mug Punter Lefty:

04 Dec 2013 3:33:38pm

The bookies have now made the LNP even stronger favourites for the next election, which, since THEY have had it right every time, indicates that you might be better off trying to use BOTH eyes when analyzing stuff.

Pyne wiped the floor with the ALP last week, and the bookies KNOW it. Suck it up Princess.

frenchie:

04 Dec 2013 8:26:25am

Chris Pyne is my local member, I can never understand why except for the fact he will do and say anything to appeal to whoever he is talking to. He also claims credit for a lot of community things that he has only played a very small part in.He is a very slimey operator but obviously he gets enough people in each election and has never been seriously challenged.I guess the other thing is we have a large Catholic community here as well as several private schools that he obviously looks after.

butz:

04 Dec 2013 9:11:46am

Your final sentance summed him up in one. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. By the way lovely cartoon of him in the Age on Sunday in full pink poodle mode. An excellent political cartoon that again sums him up to a tee.

toot:

04 Dec 2013 10:21:41am

Ditto frenchie. He is so talented, he can keep talking whilst under water. He loves the sound of his own voice. He has been practicing how to disemble since birth and is a wily operator. I have absolutely no time for him, but underestimate him at your peril. I was once present when he was briefly "struck dumb" and couldn't talk his way out of the situation. I treasure that memory because it doesn't happen often.Meanwhile, our Christopher will be soaking up all the comments we are making about him. He is very similar to Keating in this; both thrive/thrived on having slings and arrows thrown in their direction. Like Keating, he is a street fighter par excellence.

Jennyb:

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 12:02:57pm

In some areas of my electorate we have a large proportion of retirees/elderly who consistently vote for the ALP and make up a large proportion of the membership. I think the conservatism that is typical with age tends to just hard people in their already existing voting patterns.

Peter Stanton:

Kangaroo Edward:

04 Dec 2013 8:28:20am

An reflective portrait of Pyne as equal parts; guile, charisma and generousity, the man for all seasons in Canberra.Give me a break, my 12 year old son calls him the scary clown which is a more apt description of this divisive arch conservative Liberal ideologue.

Paul01:

the yank:

04 Dec 2013 8:28:39am

Not getting the sports drug info was was pay back dummy.

It would be hard to think of a nastier more disreputable politician then Pyne but that would suit Abbott down to a T.

It is nice that the media likes this guy but it is not your job to treat people you like any different then those you don't. You lot are there to tell us what is happening and that won't be easy with a government in hiding.

JOP:

whatif:

04 Dec 2013 8:29:20am

I would want anything this lot say on paper sealed and delivered and even then as abbott signed the paper to rip more out of the tax payers for funding he will say he didn't read it before he signed it, if I was a journalist dealing with this mob I would be looking twice as hard before and double checking looking for the lie.

Desert Woman:

04 Dec 2013 8:31:06am

Being a smart political operator does not hide, or excuse, the fact that he and Abbott are out to keep the 'down and out' kids at the bottom of the heap. Besides, how smart is it when the majority reaction is either anger or hilarity at the utter incompetence?

Craig of Bathurst:

04 Dec 2013 12:07:35pm

Sandy Girl, you have to keep yourself informed. Throughout the Rudd/Gillard years the academic results (the important criteria) of our so-called 'down and out' children have been going backwards. Or as you might say '...at the bottom of the heap.'

You're opinion that this government want to keep the children there may just be true, I don't know, but it was Labor who put our children at the bottom of that heap. Don't confuse the two.

Helvi:

04 Dec 2013 8:33:12am

Why do I get this feeling when ever I see a Liberal politician on TV: they don't seem real, Pyne is pretending to be a education minister, but his heart is not in it, he does not care about education..

Julie Bishop thinks that smiling a lot makes her a good foreign minister...

Abbott is playing at being PM, but acts like four year old on training wheels, calling for mum to help when falls...frequently.

Hockey is just about the only nice bloke there; he pretends to be angry, and shouts and says bad things about Labor, but again he's not convincing...

Nick:

04 Dec 2013 8:59:19am

Helvi..its quite amazing how " the other team" doesn't ever stack up in your own mind. Hey I endured 6 years of fake politicians with Rudd then the real Julia(not) being the fakest of them all.Perhaps in 6 or maybe even 9 years depending on whether Labor decides to let go of the loony Greens, you can once more have "your Team" back in power and I can comment on how "fake" they all are.

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 12:05:51pm

The homeless are about to be in even more trouble with governments cutting services to please their corporate/media masters... (And one side is slightly better than the other at resisting their demands.)

TrevorN:

04 Dec 2013 9:53:35am

So, you are not prepared to call you lot out as fakes and liars, just because you voted for them? Wake up to yourself. It is people like you that they rely on to keep putting them back into power and they will not hesitate to put you down if it is in their political interests to do so.

If you voted for them then you have more right than anyone to jump up and down when the do the wrong thing and insist that they behave themselves as a good and decent government should.

All Ears:

Chris L:

04 Dec 2013 12:29:47pm

You make a good point, Trevor, that people voting for a party have the most reason to be outraged by surprises.

I refused to vote for Labor after the 2007 due to the internet filter (and pandering to xenophobia over asylum seekers) and I won't be voting LNP at next QLD election due to the nebulous new laws to change sentences based on the person being charge rather than the crime they're charged for.

We have to be willing to walk away from the parties we previously supported or they will never have a reason to improve.

seg:

markt:

04 Dec 2013 9:04:20am

Oh but Helvi, you're so wrong. Pyne DOES care about education. He cares about making sure that the next generation of "leaders" (read: from wealthy catholic families, at catholic private schools, who will grow up to become Liberal party backers and/or front-benchers) are educated, and he cares about making sure that everybody else, well, isn't.

don't believe the media:

04 Dec 2013 12:35:28pm

Markt, you left out a large proportion of his voters. The public school students who get less funding, little opportunity to afford a once free university education and thus they stay under educated. Perfect victims for the nationalistic, xenophobic tactics.The Libs have it covered with the ignorant and the blue bloods. Academics and scientists don't belong here anymore.

Biltong:

04 Dec 2013 10:14:37am

Helvi! Thank God you exist. This an exact description and insight feeling of myself and many many others in this country.

I can't help feeling that they are all evil toads. It seems to radiate from them all. Every time they open their mouth, all I can see is false manipulating liars who seem to be praying on the ignorant. Its not the fault of the ignorant followers as they simply know no other way. Baffled with lies and complicated hidden agendas. Fuelled by greedy media.

Australia, wake up!

We have had no war in this country for many years, don't let these turkeys take us to another! Don't let Australia become 20th in a 1st world in education! Do you want to live a country where the poor get poorer and the rich get greedier?

Marg1:

04 Dec 2013 12:24:23pm

Well said Biltong and Helvi - they do seem like evil toads and you know as soon as they start talking the lies and bile just flows out. They just can't be trusted to do anything in ordinary Australians interests. Pyne, Abbott, Bernardi and Brandis would nearly have to be the worst at this although the others come a close second - they all have the same DNA.

Nick:

04 Dec 2013 3:12:15pm

Not sure what your'e ranting about there Bil bong..sounds like the paranoia is setting in.The election was only a few months ago and Australia voted out the worst government this country has ever seen.If you bothered to inform yourself you would know was under Labor that our education results were sliding down the world scale and that was after the so called digital and education revolution.

Andy:

04 Dec 2013 11:09:53am

And you found the various incarnations of the real Julia, the "i'll never ever run for PM again" Kevin, and let's not forget Mr Carr who resigned before he actually took office for the term he won after saying he'd sit out the term no matter what.

No doubt you found these characters and their many masks more credible.

Glamorpig:

don't believe the media:

04 Dec 2013 12:29:44pm

Absolutely correct Helvi. The trick is to listen carefully to what they say and then consider the opposite is what they mean. It works every time. Yes poor old Joe Hockey nearly chokes as the fibs come out of his mouth. A sign that somewhere in there is an honest man in a dishonest game. He didn't give control of our food to the U.S at least.

prison:

Helvi, great points there and i agree - the libs are false. They are not there to serve the australian public. They have a simple agenda that revolves around other financial interests:

1. no carbon tax (to secure industry friends funding)

2. no mining tax (to secure industry friends funding)

3. no gambling reform (to secure industry friends funding)

4. no gay marriage (to secure church friends funding)

5. stop the boats (to secure racist, biggot friends funding)

plus countless other hidden financial deals with banks and multinationals that go against the interests of common australians.

With all of those vested interests and conflicts, no wonder they show a lack of interest in health, education, the aged or even foreign relations. When it comes down to it, all of these fields are inconsequential and irrelevant. Banks and Corporations wield more power internationally than Governments so the Liberal focus is with them.

So when you look at Pyne on the news, you can look right through the guy and see those cogs moving and the thought that either way these policies make no difference to him personally - the support of vested interests is secured and if education for the poor masses goes to hell, SO WHAT. The backflip and careless thought to remove gonski in the first place shows a complete lack of care and consideration because his portfolio is completely irrelevant.

Terry2:

I wonder how the Canberra Press Gallery feel when they are summoned to a Prime Minister's press conference where he intends to rebuke the Labor Party for daring to vote against his repeal legislation.

Then, he fluffs his prepared lines (" the Labor party is giving the people of Australia a thumbs up...) AND asks for a retake so that he can get it right (the Labor Party is giving the Australian people two-fingers by not voting with the government).

Wun Farlung:

04 Dec 2013 2:54:07pm

He does care, he's making sure that future generations include enough people to do the housekeeping , gardening and wash the BMW and of course we don't need a voting public that can cut through the bull and make an informed decision at election time

Stephen S:

04 Dec 2013 8:38:16am

This article merely confirms what has been obvious for quite some time about politicians and the media. Both can be induced to slip and slide when it comes to the truth. How the author could rise to become the Editor of a newspaper and still be gullible is to me just a bit insensible. I feel that, like with Christopher Pyne, the the old "the end justifies the means" attitude prevailed. The lure of a leak and a headline clouded the judgement.

I cannot believe anyone could have a career in political journalism and still believe politicians are reliable and have integrity. Any reasonable person with their eyes open should have lost their innocence before they finished their cadetship or even their first year on a media organisation's payroll.

AT:

To "rise to become the Editor of a newspaper" you need to wholeheartedly throw yourself into the squalid pit of collusion with politicians that passes for political journalism in this country.

That Pyne got away with his tawdry little game then, and the virtual certainty that very much worse is still happening today, has nothing to do with editorial innocence or gullibility and everything to do with double-dealing cahootery.

MSM is too far gone to redeem themselves and we'll probably have to rely on whistle-blowers and demented activists to hold this govt to account.

Gravy:

04 Dec 2013 8:43:41am

Pyne was a very poor recipient for the education portfolio. Here is a man who has spent his whole adult life within the machinations of the LNP. A man driven by ideology, not by the desire to make a difference to Australia's future.

No Offence, But...:

04 Dec 2013 10:05:10am

As opposed to the previous bloke who spent his whole adult life as a union heavy and who is, by definition, driven by ideology? Trust any persuasion of politician at your own risk be they red, blue, green or yellow. If you don't like the man, fine - but at least wait to see how he does in the portfolio before you judge him out of hand.

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 12:10:13pm

I trust you will be around later for us to say 'I told you so' then?

And by the way, we have good evidence of what to expect from Mr Pyne - he was the opposition spokesperson for a long time and he was always making comments about how the problems with the education system will not be solved with money. What do you think that tells us about his intentions?

This is one of those situations where I don't even feel angry at the policy reversal because it was very clear that the policy is at odds with the ideology of the party. And lets face it: ideology always trumps stated policy intentions in the game of politics.

prison:

04 Dec 2013 12:55:25pm

the threats to scrap gonski and backflip on this are already enough to assess Pyne's performance.

Like Abbott, he has ALREADY proven he is infit for his position....

We don't need longer to see what further damage he does - he should be gone! its not even about not liking the man, its about arrogantly disregarding the expert recommendations in preference to a system that hasn't even been worked out yet. Its about the assumption of superiority and that he is right, despite any facts to back this degree of self-assurance up with.

The damage has been done, put a real education minister in there and they may as well put pyne into environment since they already will be doing nothing on this front.

Steve Mount:

No Offence But : Pyne is from 'the' eastern suburbs of Adelaide, which is the heartland of the 'born to rule' mentality, well beyond anything other states and capitals have to offer.

SA is the only state of free settlers, as opposed to all the other penal colonies. As such, there is a certain, distinct superiority, and conservatism, which accompanies the self-adjudged gentry. Yes, and even a particular accent and dialect, a homage to English gentry, viz, Pyne and Downer.

Don't you know...

It's a safe bet that Shorten, even as a union 'heavy', has had much more dirt beneath his fingernails than Pyne will ever have. The Tasmanian mining disaster is a feather.

It's also a safe bet that Pyne will, by instinct and even possibly without forethought, favour those who are 'more worthy'.

Francie:

04 Dec 2013 2:37:38pm

Union Officials look after ALL workers, not just those in unions. I suggest you read up on the role of unions in our society.

Unions were formed to stop greedy Liberal thinking employers from wheedling every inch of work out of their employees and paying them a pittance. Nothing much has changed in the Liberal ideology. They are still for big business and want to grind down the workers and those less fortunate.

I cannot stand Pyne, he is an insincere, mincing, whining little man, full of his own importance and very disliked in his own electorate where he constantly takes credit for things he has not done. He will do nothing for the education portfolio apart from trying to change all public schools into fee paying private schools, thus taking away free education in this country so Treasury can balance their books.

Mug Punter Lefty:

04 Dec 2013 3:57:52pm

Pyne has done very well.

One object in last week's circus was for everyone to hear about the ALP not having signed up all the states etc they had claimed. A second was to make the "Missing $1.2 Billion" an issue, and once it was, the LNP was able to say "But hey, we'll honour it anyway".

OK. The ALP lost this battle big time since the dough still flows as promised, but everyone knows that it would not have if Labor had been re-elected (the ALP had taken it from the allocation). And then the ALP/Greens got together to try to stymie the deal once more by refusing to pass the ALP's own funding cuts to Unis, which makes them look like spiteful jerks..

The ALP cannot take a trick. The bookies are expecting an even bigger defeat for Labor at the next election than in September. Will the ALP force that defeat SOON d'ya reckon?

Adelaide Rose:

05 Dec 2013 8:18:08am

I'm not sure where you're looking, but you are obviously not seeing reality! Abbott, Pyne, Hockey, Bishop and Turnbull et al have all overseen nothing but stuff ups since the election. The cracks are already appearing in the ranks with complaints about the running of the Office of PM from their own side. The honeymoon was over before it began because this mob are so blindingly incompetent.They haven't won a single battle and haven't got a hope in hell of winning the war.The government cannot run around and blame Labor for everything forever, they are going to have to accept responsibility for their incredibly poor handling of everything they seem to touch. Right now, due to their passion for secrecy and their closed shop mentality, distrust is growing and the credibility is becoming more and more shot. I dare them to call a double dissolution election at the first possible time, I think they'll get one hell of a kick in the butt for their efforts so far.

Jan:

lilly:

04 Dec 2013 8:47:07am

Mr Pyne is prototypical of the sort of person I detest. He, and I suspect many others, are not in politics to make a positive difference. They are in it because they enjoy wielding power and manipulating people. It is a sad fact that our parliamentary system has become so venomous and dysfunctional that it attracts this sort of person.

AT:

04 Dec 2013 8:55:31am

An interesting example of how our Media Munchkins are failing us.

The editor of a leading newspaper and its Canberra correspondent allowed themselves to be duchessed by that Machiavellian colossus, Christopher Pyne, becoming complicit in an essentially corrupt "nod and wink" arrangement. (And they were so unskilled in the art, they got diddled).

It's not too hard to imagine that the explanation for our media's current complacent acceptance of the Abbott govt's furtiveness and media manipulation is happening because of an abundance of similar deals in the past have left them indebted to the charmers of the govt.

Darren:

04 Dec 2013 9:01:18am

It seems that you were fooled by Pyne and your story shows that Pyne cannot be trusted at his word. Pyne wants Australians to trust him when he says "Labors Gonski reforms are incomprehensible"; but the truth is that the majority of Australia's state premiers have no trouble understanding Labors Gonski reforms and feel they are forced to drag Pyne and Abbott kicking and screaming like children just to get them to honour the coalitions "Unity ticket" election promise. Further to that, Pyne and Abbott held a press conference telling Australians the chaotic mess the coalition has created has now been resolved only for the same state premiers to hold their own press conference informing Australians that the Abbott/Pyne press conference was not true and amounted to megaphone diplomacy. A pattern of LIES is fast emerging when Christopher Pyne is involved and we all know how liars get treated in the end.

Patrick53:

If ever there was the quintessential Liberal then Pyne would fit the bill perfectly.Full of self-righteouness, talking down to people ,never wrong and full of his own self-importance.

I struggle to understand how anyone could possibly vote for him but then again Alexander Downer was along very similar lines.

Speaking of Downer, he now has some very serious issues to answer as the East Timor spying scandal has blown up and this time they cant blame Kevin07..it was Downer06. Another international Liberal crisis coming up, where will this all end?. Is there a Turnbull in the house?.

EVAN:

Glamorpig:

04 Dec 2013 5:26:17pm

It will take 3 years? Such inefficiency. They are only producing a third rate product, and no-one is planning to do anything difficult with it anyway. We are no longer players in the international information economy.

Woody:

whichlight:

04 Dec 2013 9:21:09am

I watched Pyne on 7.30 the day the government " saved " the education spending, something that Labour hadn't done, so Mr Pyne kept on saying. And over the last week or so I have been able to get a more detailed look at this guy. I discovered him to be just another " pollie " in it for all the wrong reasons and when interviewed he doesn't answer the question, surprise surprise, he justs twists and turns his already penned statement over and over.Don't these idiots realize that we know when someone is answering and someone is just politicing. Not impressed but he thinks he's pretty good ..... just ask him

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 12:13:53pm

But they were trying to save the education spending. They removed money from the education budget to put in their back pocket to be 'saved' against the day they need to porkbarrel their way through another election!

Its just those damn lefties who believe that things like education are important things for everyone - even the future workers in the businesses owned by the elites.

jennbrad:

04 Dec 2013 12:35:45pm

I get very cross when he spouts that line. The money wasn't gone - it was in consolidated revenue as it could not be placed in the "allocated" or "spent" categories for those states whose signatures were not actually on the agreements. When an election is called, you can't leave technically unallocated money floating in limbo - it has to be accounted for, in CR. And what makes me even crosser is his assumption that enough people won't know any different but to take his word for gospel. Bah humbug, as the season requires.

Chris L:

04 Dec 2013 12:42:06pm

I noticed when the states managed to out-bark him on the Gonski reforms, as he retreated he was yipping back over his shoulder that they'd better follow the funding model.... the model they wanted and had to push him into honouring. Sore loser.

Ted:

04 Dec 2013 9:24:44am

One of the main reasons I am not supporting my former party at the moment is the number of thoroughly dislikeable people they have at the top who enjoy throwing aspersions around about their political opponents at the expense of doing their jobs properly. Most of them have little idea what they are doing.

Curious Party:

04 Dec 2013 12:15:56pm

I have this idea that the people who are fighting for change (revolutionaries, protesters etc) are not the people best suited to actually living with society after the change. I feel like many people in the LNP fit that mould.

don't believe the media:

04 Dec 2013 12:40:19pm

Ted, you appear to be a man of integrity. I know we all have our preferences in how we see the best way forward for the nation (although many only see their own needs as being important), and if you can see through the corruption of your party as you have, and demand better, we will all benefit.

Stuffed Olive:

sunshine:

04 Dec 2013 9:27:30am

This triple back flip on Gonski is amazingly audacious in the context of Gillards 3 year liar hammering .That they thought they could get away with it needs explanation .An easy ride into office bred arrogance and complacency -but also there is a lack of new talent in Abbotts back to the future team. Their positive program seems to be only to undo everything Labor did and return us to the Howard era . Not inspiring .

Jacob:

04 Dec 2013 9:33:02am

A very tired use of very, old pop song lyrics is entirely in keeping with this lightweight fluff piece excuse for an article. It is a vehicle merely to relate an anecdote about how the author once had dealings with Pyne (an excuse for shallow name-dropping perhaps?). The article is very short on analysis.

Pyne is finished politically although he may continue on for a while as a dead man walking. He very near mortally wounded his leader, displayed an astonishing arrogance and naivety, not to mention a complete policy vacuum (something that many of his colleagues share).

Your article goes far too easy on him. Perhaps you still expect a favour? We need to discount anything you say because of your demonstrated propensity to suck up in return for favours.

Glamorpig:

04 Dec 2013 12:06:43pm

I doubt that Pyne is finished politically. In any normal party he would be, but duplicity and mendacity is not exceptional in the current government. The attitude seems to be "Yes, I was lying, but what are you going to do about it"?

GP:

04 Dec 2013 9:38:56am

I have always wondered how two Jesuit educated individuals, Abbott and Pyne lie so easily and blatantly and are not ashamed to be caught lying. Is there something wrong with Jesuit Christian education or has it failed where it is considered acceptable to lie all in the name of power? I am myself eduacted by the Jesuits and find that strange. Where have the Jesuits failed. Or is this restrcted to some schools.

PeterF:

04 Dec 2013 2:51:27pm

My thoughts exactly, below is the text of the only political letter I have ever written:

Dear Mr. Pyne

I note that your profile highlights your education by the Jesuits. My family have been educated by the Jesuits for many years. Almost 20 of my close relatives have been through Jesuit schools. I still try to practice the values that were emphasised daily to us: intellectual rigour, faith and generosity- the virtues of ?a man for others?.

I cannot recognise any of these values in the behavior of you or your leader in the current parliament.

The absurd mis-characterisation of so-called evidence of Ms Gillard's mistakes in the ?AWU affair? is a glaring new example of the pejorative meaning of the word 'jesuitical'. Coming from the people who turned a blind eye to the AWB affair and promulgated Children Overboard misinformation, it is complete and utter hypocrisy.

The willful neglect and distraction from the work of the governing the nation is an insupportable dereliction of your responsibility to your constituents and your duty to your office.

In summary, sir, your behaviour is not that of ?a man for others? but rather that of a self-centred egoist in pursuit of power whatever the consequences. It is a disgrace to the efforts of the Jesuits in trying to form men of character and integrity.

anote:

04 Dec 2013 9:57:24am

What a load of crap.

Pyne is a blatant liar and shows no depth when he faces the public. He gets away with it because much of the media and public chose to overlook it, perhaps in the belief that he only lies to non Liberals. That makes them fools not Pyne wily. Just because Fray was conned by Pyne he calls Pyne a wily operator.

TrevorN:

04 Dec 2013 9:58:39am

So what you are saying here is if you ever have the misfortune to meet Pyne to count your fingers after you shake hands with him, check yourself over for snakebites, and never ever turn your back on him while you are still in knife range.

Kedjy:

04 Dec 2013 10:04:20am

What is your point here Peter, if not to attack this guy's character ? Will you report on an ALP figure similarly ? There is a staff member at our workplace, great guy, who smokes. He is forced to do this well away from the workplace and adjoining public space, therefore giving the impression at times that it is "clandestine". Maybe Pyne respects the rights of others, maybe he wants to not influence others to smoke as a public figure , especially when in a Health role?Gosh, how we have changed ! When I started work, people were all smoking in offices and everywhere, planes, trains and cars !!I well remember going to my Uncles workplace ( a newspaper) and walking through the journo's space, that was like a foggy day and stunk to high heaven.Now the poor buggers are pariah's and taxed within an inch of their lives!

Oaktree:

04 Dec 2013 10:40:57am

Smokers are taxed because they become a very big cost to the community once they develop lung conditions. To have a representative of the health portfolio smoking at that political time was small potatoes really.

The ABC delights in providing these articles to provoke us all, but given all the backflips and manipulation in this current parliament, the more information we have the more we are forewarned.

Kedjy:

05 Dec 2013 8:33:03am

Why even bring this up ? I think ALP figures will play up anything that gives them any advantage at all and make it up if it's not there or lie and deceive. Following Mcternan's diatribe of "they can't talk if you have your fist shoved down their throats ", such fists coming in various guises.Be as bold as you like ! I try but my bold peices don't make it through as they are largely highly critical of the ALP/ABC and their non reporting of anything remotely damaging their cause.

anote:

04 Dec 2013 9:40:56pm

Good reply but ...

"Not everyone in Sturt is mentally deficient." One would expect so. However, does Pyne really have slippery methods. He is quick to make smart aleck comments accompanied but a stupid smug smile but that is just being a jerk. He is patently deceptive. So there is something disturbing about Pyne being repeatedly elected and it does not necessarily only reflect on the Sturt electorate.

Ataraxia:

04 Dec 2013 10:05:13am

Surely we deserve better from a government minister. Every time Minister Pyne speaks he references his position against the Labor Party or, when it suits, the Greens but he never seems to argue on the merits of his case. He has not been able to make the transition from opposition to government. What is the benefit in him alienating the sizeable minority of people who voted Labor on every issue with which he involves himself? Many of us who would be willing to at least listen to what he has to say immediately turn off when he treats us with dismissive contempt.

Just William:

04 Dec 2013 1:05:35pm

This post goes to the heart of this current Government.If anyone, not in a state of frenzy, viewed what they say and said to themselves .............. What contribution to the health of the Society (Not the Health "System) does each of their protestations contribute? ........ then I can't see one.What I can see is a disciplined set of planned procedures to reduce everything to the lowest common denominator for the purpose of anesthetising a public to accept mediocrity.The issue of favoured access to the distribution of privilege and wealth is resultant benefit.

Oaktree:

Skeptic:

04 Dec 2013 10:16:08am

"I assumed he managed to quit". Well, that's just lazy on your part! How about you go and find out whether he did or not. Or are you prepared to accept having him pull the wool over your eyes, again? Sounds like a line from "Yes Prime Minister", describing Sir Humphrey Appleby. I hope your head is not also full of wool....

Kothai:

04 Dec 2013 10:17:40am

I think his lasting legacy would be the role he played in Peter Slipper's undoing! Left or Right you would like to remember a politician for what he stood for in Public life, unfortunately Pyne would never make the cut.

YourMum:

04 Dec 2013 10:23:09am

Having read through most (sorry, I've not got he time for all) of the comments, one thing became clear; no-one actually seems to actively like Minister Pyne. Even the obviously committed Liberal voters seem to back him in a general, non-specific,' I support the LNP' kind of way. Which is just fine as far as it goes. But it does suggest that Mr Pyne is at best risible and at worst truly repellent.

BJA:

04 Dec 2013 10:24:01am

With me, your article achieved two things.

I thought less of you than I otherwise may have; and you confirmed for me my already strong opinion that Pyne is a worthless individual to whom truth and integrity mean very little, and the manipulations possible from a position of power are all important.

I don't know of a worse kind of person to be given the power of a Federal politician.

My experience of humanity is that conmen are the lowest form of human life, and do the most damage.

old67:

Briano:

04 Dec 2013 10:47:51am

What I see here is a player in the "Gotcha" journalism game who was Out-Gotchad by a guy who knew how to play the game better. Far too many commenters here seem annoyed that Pyne is an atypical politician - well well, whoda thunk it, an MP who is a politician! Keep crying in your Weeties, because you've been attacking him for years and he's gone from strength to strength in his political career which must just annoy the hell out of you lefties. All I see in Pyne is a career politician, (like so many others such as Kevin 07, Julia and Bill), whose career has gone swimmingly so far despite the opinions of the online experts in everything.

Lehan Ramsay:

04 Dec 2013 10:54:46am

I would just like to speak in defence of Minister Pyne here, there is just too much scorn and I feel some sympathy now for his plight. He is working very hard. He is maintaining a professional appearance. He is pronouncing his words very well. His media appearances are frequent, clearly enunciated and not overly technical. These younger politicians like Minister Pyne and Opposition Minister Shorten appear to be coming along quite well don't they? And I am sure that they spend quite a lot of time listening to the views of women and finding a way to align their own views accordingly. We have become a Nation of Scoffers.

Ataraxia:

Alpo:

04 Dec 2013 10:55:51am

I hereby nominate Chrissy Pyne as the Chief Clown of the Abbott Government, with duties to provide tragicomic relief to adults and children alike. The comic side is a natural contribution to this job from his personality, the tragic comes from the seriousness of his duties.... Will our students, parents and teachers be able to smile as the tragedy unfolds?

Barnesy:

04 Dec 2013 11:01:30am

Nobody is doubting his political savvy, or Abbott's savvy for that matter.

Pyne let a fruedian slip out on 7:30 the other night when asked about education funding certainty. He said "NSW needs......ah, Queensland and WA now have funding certainty something that short-change Shorten couldn't do".

Personally I'd prefer a Greg Combet type of character, understands his portfolio, gets on with the job but doesn't really have time for the nonsense surrounding politics.

Rattus rattus:

04 Dec 2013 11:12:12am

When I started reading this analysis of Christopher Pyne's modus operandi I assumed the author was mounting a defence of Pyne's recent actions, something equivalent to cleaning the Augean Stables, a labour too great for any human.

It wasn't until the concluding paragraphs that I realised Peter Fray was saying that Pyne played Peter for a mug. Isn't that what he's been doing with the Australian public for the last 6 years? Isn't that what he is currently doing with several state education ministers, and thousands of teachers and parents around the nation?

Saying Labor 'ripped' $1.2 billion out of the education budget is a blatant lie. Labor offered WA, Queensland and the Northern Territory $1.2 billion to join the Gonski scheme. The $1.2 billion offer was withdrawn when they refused to join the scheme. The money wasn't in the education budget to begin with. But that didn't prevent Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne from making the assertion that $1.2 billion was ripped from the education budget to a national audience in their televised press conference on Monday. Could any political manoeuvre be more blatantly dishonest?

Drew:

04 Dec 2013 11:20:35am

Too many comments here suggesting rusted on views about 'lefties' or the LNP. Don't fall for the politicians' goodies v baddies nonsense. It is true that Pyne is regrettably a 'wily politician' (ie manipulative and dishonest) like many on both sides of the house. The press gallery might enjoy those games, but they are failing their audience. Let's shift our focus away from the parties and the politicians, and instead focus on the policies. For example, what does the change of position on school funding actually mean? Both sides of politics have rushed to 'sign up' states and territories, while the sensible Gonski principles are traded away.

MargiM:

04 Dec 2013 11:26:05am

There was a crucially important reason for Pyne and Abbott's flip flops on education and your article underscores this completely - people misinterpret the government's on again off again Gonski as them stumbling around fixing one mess after the other however it was a calculated mission for which Christopher Pyne will always be the ideal candidateAt the time of Pyne's initial announcement the government was plummeting from one diplomatic disaster with Indonesia to another, but then when relationships with China began to heat up, something had to be done to distract the multitudes - send in Christopher Pyne! Let him loose to rile up the common folk on what better topic; education! Immediately - I repeat immediately - not a word was or has since been said about Bishop and Abbott's bumbling diplomacy and unnecessary tensions with our neighbours although nothing has been resolved about these matters.It seems to me that the ploy worked and that old tricks die hard...

spud:

04 Dec 2013 11:38:51am

Pyne may be in general a quite cunning operator, but he really bombed out badly over this Gonski coming and going. Really dumb handling of what was undoubtedly not a problem of his own making initially, but became the problem of his own making. 2/10 for this, and that is being kind.

Yuck:

04 Dec 2013 11:42:26am

Pyne comes across as a particularly odious individual.He may be cunning [not exactly what the public is looking for right now!] and have self assurance [self assurance in spades], but he is giving every impression of being really short on talent and judgment about what is important to the public.I remember a performance he gave on Q&A some years ago on the topic of euthanasia. He effectively said he couldn't care less what the public wanted - politicians were there to decide.He doesn't seem to have changed.And I still loathe him.

Jean:

04 Dec 2013 12:01:26pm

Christopher Pyne must be is shaking in his boots! A former editor of left wing newspapers with the auspices of the ABC Drum (all in the public interest of course) have dropped their bombshell with startling revelations that Christopher Pyne is untrustworthy.

And isn't our obedient Greek chorus bleating in harmony with the beating of the drum.

But what is his alleged crime?

Does it involve illicit midnight trysts with a female member of his staff who is now on maternity leave?

Was he ripping off a party credit card with his fellow "toffs" with lavish meals at fancy restaurants with high priced escorts?

Did he have an affair with some-one who was creaming off her company's investors who used the proceeds to buy him a secret city apartment?

Was he using his political position to corruptly build himself an investment empire that made him a multi-millionaire?

No, much, much worse than that.

After it had been published in the paper's gossip column, he was allegedly trying to bribe a newspaper editor from inflaming the fact that he was a smoker by providing some information about the government's harder policy on drugs in sport.

Was the smoking story ever mentioned? Well you know, it was all hush hush, wink wink. But being a very unbiased clear thinker, Mr Fray just knew what was on Mr Pyne's mind? And the future drug policy? Well it never materialised, proving to Mr Fray that Pyne, not only is sneaky but also a double dealer - wink, wink.

Well Mr Fray if that's all you've got, my advice to you is to stop pining and stick to stories about Tony Abbott's university days. Maybe you can find some old holes in the wall.

I think most people have gauged Christopher Pyne and it was predictable that he would get the Coalition into trouble. Not because he is sneaky - entirely the opposite. He goes in like a bull in a china shop and needs to cool it.

But he is also fearless, has a skin like an elephant and knows his portfolio better than any-one. And if he does learn to cool it, he will make a formidable politician.

And my advice to Drum readers is PLEASE do not let the attempted demonization of Christopher Pyne detract in any way from the abysmal record of Labor's "education revolution". Is money the only answer to academic results?

Could it be first and foremost the curriculum then the amount of time devoted to it and the learning environment? Then the quality of teacher? And last but by no means least, the passion of the students and their family?

Ataraxia:

04 Dec 2013 6:48:18pm

Christopher Pyne is demonising himself. If money is not a determinant of children's education, then I wait with bated breath for Pyne to ensure wealthy private schools do not receive any taxpayer money. Somehow I do not believe he will put our money to work in schools that really need it. One wonders why elite private schools have luxurious facilities if they are not desirable for their students' education!

don't believe the media:

05 Dec 2013 6:47:24am

Jean, i'm assuming your points in the first part of your missive were directed at non LNP members. Try applying them to LNP members and you'll have no shortage of examples.On the second half: i wait with baited breath to observe the outcomes on our education system from this group of talentless fascists. You do understand that education is meant to include public schools don't you?

JOP:

04 Dec 2013 12:06:10pm

Actually I think Julia summed him up pretty well. But I must add that he and his lot would be quite at home in the New Guinea highlands, where 'payback' is a way of life. They'd be masters of the territory.

rationalthinker:

How do these guys get the portfolios...it's like teacher's pet all over again...who are your favourites and give them the best jobs even if they are ill equipped and have no idea.

Saw another article on line that indicated the libs were relying on Greens to get legislation passed in the Senate.. .This is the same Greens that they call "wacko" and various other disparaging names, but will now kowtow to get anything they want. What hippocrites.

rationalthinker:

04 Dec 2013 12:16:32pm

A real quandary for Canberra press is that if they go too far, they will be cut by the offended politician and get no interviews of even get to ask questions in future...so must have to moderate a bit how they go about dishing out the criticiscms

prison:

04 Dec 2013 12:22:28pm

I find Pyne offensive but typical of a Liberal politician. What I would be watching for are what commercial deals are being done behind the scenes and what personal kickbacks he is receiving as a result. He is in there for himself and his own ambitions and will use/trample over anyone else to get what he wants. You can't trust him and he has obvious personality flaws including narcisissm.

His persona is false, his voice is even false. He wants to be seen to have an aura of prestige and authority but all I see is an ambitious greedy over-competitive child.

He is the LAST person who should have anything to do with education. It is further indication of the Poor judgement of Abbott and the Liberal party leaders to have put Pyne in this position.

Pyne is more than just a sneaky character, he has such a degree if dishonesty and such an arrogant, offensive way about him that I feel physically i'll when i see him say anything on the news. I'm not a religious person, but for me he is practically the definition of evil. He's a wolf in sheeps clothing and Lib voters only see the false friendly smiling sheep to reassure them to their face while ensuring long term pain behind their backs.

John of Wa:

04 Dec 2013 12:33:11pm

Yesterday, the Education Minister told us how he'd personally saved Australian education by signing up the recalcitrant states to Gonski and giving them billions of dollars in funding for the next four years (back on the unity ticket). The major change was removing the reporting responsibilities ('command and control') to the Federal Government. In other words, the States can do what they like with the money, even remove some of their own if they wish.

Today, he's out there saying, "Despite spending 44 per cent more on education funding over the past decade, results are still in decline. This clearly shows that more funding does not equate to better outcomes." Which is sort of what he was trying to argue a week ago.

So, that being the case, what was yesterday about? Throwing even more money, with less governance, to solve the problem which may or may not exist depending on which day it is. Surely that decision couldn't just have been a political fix...?

With this man, and this policy free government, rests our childrens' futures.

andrew:

04 Dec 2013 12:34:06pm

The worry for me is Christopher Pyne is a politician first and last. He does not have his portfolio at heart, he is only interested in earning political points, and his portfolio is his devise to do just that. Tony Abbott is no better and hence why Pyne has been given the Education portfolio.Neither cares about the students in the public education system, neither have children in the system, and hence have no ownership of the issue.This has been borne out already with the number of backflips the last to actually honor Gonski, not because it's the right thing to do for Education, but because the political backlash was too large if they didn't. They need to start thinking like a government an not an opposition.Pyne's attitude to the internationally poor results in the press today is, it's Labor's fault, not this is how we are going to fix it.Grow up Pyne and do the best you can for Australian kids not your liberal party, have a broader vision. Australia is counting on it.

Biddy:

Greg:

04 Dec 2013 1:27:11pm

So he's a bit oily and you can't believe his promises. This ain't news. Nor are they qualifications for his present portfolio, about which he seems to understand remarkably little despite years as shadow minister. If he were a school he'd be all front and no library.

Albo:

04 Dec 2013 1:45:18pm

What a pathetic article ! So Christopher Pyne manages political problems with fine aplomb that most in Canberra could only dream about ! He continues to be voted in every time by his electorate and is highly regarded by his own Cabinet team, is their leader in the House, and he is the Party's regular handler of media confections and ABC witch hunts !Seems the ALP could have done with a few Christopher Pyne's over the past 6 years, and they might not have been relegated to the clueless divided rabble we now see in Opposition.Todays revelations about even further deterioration of the our kids rankings in education standards under the latest period of Labor mismanaged years, further suggests that attacking Pyne in his role as Education Minister is hilariously brazen at best and totally desperate & pointless at worst !

don't believe the media:

05 Dec 2013 6:53:42am

Again Albo, you're on a totally different page to actual happenings. If Pyne's clueless flip flopping and whiney justifications for his lack of ability are considered to be highly regarded within the party, it says spades about the rest of them And as for aplomb: the only evidence of that is the one trapped in his mouth.

NotMyName:

04 Dec 2013 1:51:49pm

Mr. Pyne's streak of sneakiness would have been picked up in school, he'd have learnt then how to survive; did Mr. Pyne's political leanings in university cause him to come into contact with others with another political ideology, this might explain his actions and prejudice in politics. Been sneaky, conniving and wanting your own way always will put those around you on guard, and with Turnbull only one vote away from P.M. Abbott's job, hopeful Pyne will soon be on the backbench.

QC Bob:

04 Dec 2013 6:49:49pm

This for the Liberal "darlings" who have trouble understanding how major changes to policy do not materialise overnight..

School funding at the moment is a legacy of the Howard years. Labor identified this area that needed improvement and produced Gonski. They were in the process of fixing the mess which is currently Australian education funding. Probably wasn't addressed during their first term due to things such as the GFC and boat people hysteria. Second term they were a minority government but still managed to formulate a plan.

If they had done nothing eg no Gonski report, exactly what new initiatives would the talented Mr Pyne introduce do you think?

PS I am not a Labor "luvvie" but process information I recieve from various sources. Policy wise Labor are the more progressive party in Australia historically. The last Labor/ minority government was a shambles because of internal politics, NOT because of their ability to effectively govern. It is too early to assess the Abbott government but Pyne instills no confidence in me that they will be blinding us all with their brilliance.

don't believe the media:

05 Dec 2013 7:01:42am

Reinhard and QC Bob, facts do not seem to be of any importance to the LlNP or its supporters. These people get their education from screaming shock jocks and corporate papers who benefit from commercial activity. For every sloganised criticism of the previous government, the actual facts speak for themselves.The old saying about he who controls the media controls the people. Our ABC is next on the firing line as truth and impartiality have no place in a fascist regime. The ABC can only appear left wing when all of the other broadcasters represent corporations and profit and run their programmes accordingly.

luke warm:

04 Dec 2013 2:46:07pm

Christopher's 1st Report Card:

"Dear Tony,

Christopher has been trying very hard. He has top marks in Gym for his spectacular Backflips with amazing Spin. He has also done well in Politics for his shameless displays of Hubris. Unfortunately he has failed his first test in Policy, seemingly being unable to grasp even the very basics of it. The good news is that this will not hold him back against his peers, as none of them have a clue either"

Keith Lethbridge Snr:

04 Dec 2013 2:48:25pm

G'day Peter.

Thanks for your article. Yes, Brother Christopher is a politician, with the necessary guile & hide to take on a role in government. Whether anyone likes the Government's policies on education is another subject.

The Gonski Report appears to suggest that those who fail to attend school may require additional funding, to overcome social disadvantage.

My views are more conservative than either Bronski or Brother Pyne. I'd like to see all taxpayer funded benefits linked to a required number of attentive attendance days of schooling. For example, let's say the requirement was 3,000 days. Then if Fred Bloggs applied for unemployment benefits, age pension or anything else & it was found that he had only attended 2,500 days, then he would be advised that eligibility would depend upon a further 500 days of attentive school attendance.

By "attentive" I mean sitting at a desk, listening to the teacher & making a reasonable effort to comply with instructions. Students do a lot of that in many other countries. In Australia, reasonable student behaviour appears to be optional. Poor student behaviour is already a huge burden to taxpayers, not to mention teachers, other students & the community. It does not (in my opinion) require subsidy.

skeptic:

04 Dec 2013 7:06:52pm

Keith Lethbridge Snr,

Nice idea in theory, but a nightmare to execute, I believe.

So students who are well behind on the eight balls will become a "compulsory" dead-weight on the classrooms. Where are you going to find the extra capacity to cater for them, on top of the already big class sizes.

Are you going to run special classes for these under-performers?

If their hearts are not in it, it would be futile to drag them kicking and screaming. The old saying" You can only lead a bull to the water, but you can't make him drink from it." is very true.

I do believe taking away the safety net, ie. the dole, is a good start. It is a "default" option now, and some people knew of only it and nothing else. But it is a difficult one though, what about the genuinely un-employed? What about people who are intellectually deficient? What about people who knew nothing else but unemployment, or without a decent role model around them?

Too many questions, so many variables. Perhaps Minister Pyne has answers to them all ?

Diana :

04 Dec 2013 2:57:26pm

Christopher Pyne spent yesterday claiming that he was not only reinstituting the Gonski reforms but he was adding an extra billion in funding for education.Today, after the release of a report demonstrating that education levels in Australia were falling behind, Pyne drags out his old argument that extra funding will not improve education, what is needed is an improvement in quality. He wants to blame teachers for the current education crisis.No one should assume Gonski is safe and that education will receive its required funds.Pyne is a slippery character and capable of saying anything just to maintain power. I do not believe this man has the interests of Australian students at heart, he only cares about himself!

Fred:

04 Dec 2013 3:59:21pm

I see nothing to admire in the behavior of this minister. He was just a minor if persistent irritant in Opposition but egged on by his then Leader, he has developed into an undisciplined, aggressive, loudmouth.

skeptic:

04 Dec 2013 4:53:04pm

Gotcha, Peter Fray!

I bet Pyne will be jumping up and clicking his heels when he tricked up Mr. Peter Fray. That is what a "clever and tricky" politician should behave. To believe otherwise will only result in more frustrations on your part.

I, probably like most people, like to judge people by their past records. Interesting enough, sometimes it is the smallest, minutest details actually allow you to look deep inside of what that person really is.

Why is that so? A good operator will endeavor to hide on big issues because it is, well, big. On smaller issues, they probably think it is no big deal, and not trying too hard to hide.

Remember Mark Latham's handshake with John Howard? What about Rudd's abusive behaviors caught on candid camera? Then Abbott's ding-dong, Yo-Yo on Climate Change, when he said very different things to different audiences, in "invitation only venue?

On education, I don't particularly buy the fact that throwing more money at it will guarantee to turn kids into better students, but that is another topic. However, to stand up in front of cameras and declared to the entire nation that you are at one with the ALP on "Gonski", and then unashamedly do a neat dance around and declared it is going to be a "Con-Gonski" by his reckoning, is nothing but bloody lie.

To put it nicely, we have been had. But wait...there is more...

Apparently he got slapped down by Abbott, and "Con-Gonski" is "Gonski" again! What is going on here, mate? Are you for real? Now Big Joe is scratching his rapidly greying head, and will have to find some more money to keep the three renegade states to shut up, on top of what was promised. No wonder he is worried about the "Black-hole".

Talking about Black-hole, where can we find one and point Pyne in its general direction?

rationalthinker:

We need some new blood in the Canberra gallery methinks as too many seem overly friendly with pollies and afraid to overstep the mark in case they get "frozen out". ..

The states that would not sign up to"Gonski" with Labor were all LNP states - correct me if I'm wrong, but of course now libs are in they are coming out of the woodwork wanting their share.

Would like a new name for it, because the full review had way more suggestions than this scope of funding, but because noone can look to the future and lay down sound principles now, not many ideas were to be taken up - no money, Rudd wasted too much on grocery watch, fuel watch and his hairdresser.

MD:

04 Dec 2013 5:55:48pm

He didn't manage to sell the sizzle of his "cheaper and slicker and quicker and thicker than anything Labor can do" thought bubble very well, so does he deserve the credit this piece gives him? The policy that cabinet was purportedly considering might have been more obviously embarassing than that, but Brandis being obstructive doesn't sound unlikely either. Time will tell.

DoSomething:

04 Dec 2013 6:18:59pm

Pyne has not known a life outside politics and it shows. No vision, it's clearly sport to him and doesn't he just love the game. He is unbelievably arrogant and smug in government and has a hide as thick as...

How he ever became a minister just shows the dearth of talent within the LNP. If the LNP were serious about education, he would have been cut loose after last week's debacle. The fact he wasn't can only mean the PM was complicit in what we now have: adoption of Gonski in name only.

JMJ:

04 Dec 2013 6:19:51pm

Peter, Christopher Pyne might have fooled himself but the truth is that as Shadow Minister for Education he did say that the LNP was to "maintain the current funding plus yearly six per cent indexation, meaning over four years both government and non-government schools would receive recurrent funding increases from a Coalition Government?.

Serendipitous:

timely:

04 Dec 2013 7:40:12pm

Perhaps Pyne has more to him than meets the eye. He certainly comes across on television as a bit of a pratt.

In hindsight however one might ask the question: did Pyne leak the Gonski flip and then backflip with strategy in mind and if so; for what political plan in particular? Is this a stroke of genius or does it really demonstrate doublemindedness? Personally I am not a fan of Pyne - his smile makes me want to puke whenever I see him; but his pukiness certainly does not make him want of smarts.

Just a tick:

05 Dec 2013 2:03:58am

A spot on analysis of the hollow man. A man lacking in integrity, but steeped in political machinations. A man who, apart from having spent his life in politics has not ever held a 'real' job. I only take issue with one conclusion and that is the view that what you see is not all you are getting.I tend to believe that what you see and how he conducts himself is in fact all there is. His total lack of depth and understanding of his portfolio and the huge importance it constitutes to all our futures (education that is) demonstrates the total absence of an ability to deal with our kids future in this country. But then, it is only what the conservatives who are now governing have always intended to achieve. That is the ingrained belief that education is not something that should be available to all because it could only lead the masses to mount the barricades.

BJA:

There's no doubt that Pyne, Abbott, and Morrison will increase productivity from us old fellas.

Within 15 minutes I was back barking iron bark posts with an axe rather than listen any longer to their strident, ugly, mindless sneering.

Some decades ago someone described the Liberal Party as "Phoneys and silvertails, bludgers poons and dunces". They've got worse.

What kind of ill-informed idiots does Hockey take us for when he keeps on with his dishonesty about the state of the economy his government inherited? Every time, he just insults us. I heard Dr Henry heap praise on Mr Rudd for his personal contribution during the GFC.Dr Henry or Joe Hockey? It's not even a sensible question.

The Australian economy and society would be in far better shape if Hockey and his billionaire friends hadn't combined to block Rudd's Norwegian style wealth sharing from the mining boom.

We'll watch, Mr Hockey, as you go about transferring the wealth of Australia from the poverty stricken to the wealthy - including the millions to the "women of that calibre" - but we'd rather not have it accompanied by your dishonest yapping.

Now it seems that we once again must suffer the contempt of the world as it is publicly revealed that these grubs used phone tapping to cheat the poverty stricken people of East Timor.

Millions of Australians are not ugly cheating grasping grubs and I'm sure they'll feel as I do - contaminated, humiliated and very, very angry.

CJGB:

05 Dec 2013 8:37:01am

Mt Abbott is consistent, along with his puppets, he is Quoted by Margo Kingston in the SMH as stating ' the truth is how well you tell the lie"Well Christopher has tried to follow his teacher, but had to be extradited from the dunces corner, when he got the project wrong.Do not forget that every time you hear Mr Abbott, put it in the "the truth is" basket.

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.